Oil-press mat



(No Model.)

0. R. NELSON.

OIL PRESS MAT. No. 349,515. Patented sept. 21, 1886.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

N. PETE'RS. Phawuxhognpnen wmmngmn, D4 c 2 Sheets Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

O. R. NELSON.

OIL PRESS MAT.

Patented Sept. 21, 1886.

N. Pusns. Humm/umn". wnhingnm DA c.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER B. NELSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

OIL-PRESS MAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,515, dated September 21 1886. I

Application filed February 18, 1886. Serial No. 192,896. (No model.)

To. all wtom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER R. NELsoN, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Presses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This inventiourelates to oil-pressesin which absorbent mats'are employed in contact with the bag of meal to be pressed; andit has among its objects to provide improved features of construction in such presses and presses of analogous character, first, whereby the destructive effects of strain upon the absorbent matsand upon the duck press-cloth or wrappers for the meal may be obviated, and, second, whereby an increase of the capacity of the press may be obtained by the omission of one and the retention of one of the absorbent mats, and at the same time the adhesion of the meal to the metal surface with which it is thus brought in u contact is avoided.

'Io these and other ends my improvements consist in the matters hereinafter set forth,and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings', Figure l is a perspective view of a press-plate of an oilpress having certain forms of my improve ments applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an underside view of an absorbent mat having areticulated plate of metal attached thereto; which plate, when resting on the press-plate, presents a surface having prominences or projections which are relatively -stationary and which en ter or embed themselves in the mat. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a sheet-metal plate intended to be applied to they surface of a press-plate and having a sheet of asbestus paper or other non-conducting substance applied to the under surface thereof, so that the latter will be interposed between the pressplate and metal sheet. Fig.` 4 shows a fragment of a similar sheet of metal plate for the same position folded at the edge to form the selvage, the asbestus sheet in this figure being omitted. 5 is a perspective of fragments of press-plates, showing two forms of prominences or projections upon the surface of the plate, which, in connection with a penetrable mat, serve the same purpose as the surface inequalities of the wire-netting shown in Fig. 2,. Fig. 6 shows a press-plate ofthe character separately shown in Fig. .5, but having the projections on its lower surface only and a penetrable mat attached to that surface, While the upper surface of the press-plate is equipped with a smooth-surfaced sheet-metal plate of the character represented in Fig. 4.

A represents one of the series of press-plates of a linseed or other oil-press having longitudinal troughs a along its lower margins for the conduct of the expressed oil to the delivery side of the press.

B is an absorbent mat fabricated of hair or other suitable material.

C is a sheet of wire cloth or netting corresponding in size, preferably, very nearly with that of the mat B. Y

Disa thin sheet-metal plate having a smooth surface, preferably Russia iron.

E is a sheet or body of asbestus or other I non-conductor of heat interposed between the plate D and the press-plate A.

F F are fastenings, either of the usual twine or wire or of other' form, by which the plate D or mat B may be secured to the press-plate.

It is well known that in the use of oilpresses the ground meal from which the oil is to be pressed is formed in a fiat rectangular mass inclosed upon its upper, lower, and end surfaces by ducking or wool cloth folded about it.. This body or cake of meal thus inclosed is insertednbetween two adjacent plates, A, of a hydraulic press, and is then subjected to a pressure commonly reaching four thousand pounds to the square inch. Both proximate faces of each pair of plates have commonly been provided with hair mats B, about threefourths of an inch in thickness, and adapted by a degree of compressibility to compensate for any inequalit'yin the density of the cake or block of meal, and also adapted to absorb a quantity of oil. In the use of the press these mats, strong as they are, frequently break apart after some time, and the duck covering of the cakes, or press-cloth, is also very soon ruptured and rendered useless. I have 'decided that these'results are due to the lateral expansion of the mats under the heavy pressure referred to. To remedy this action I have provided a means for preventing the eXpan- IOO sion of the mats, and find, as ar result, that both the mats and the press-cloths are rendered far more durable, and that the mats, in fact, are made practicably indestructible. The device for this purpose is herein illustrated in two forms in Figs. 1, 2, and 5. In Figs. land 2 it is in the form of a sheet of wire-netting placed in contact with the mat, so that under the pressure of the press the wires embed themselves at short intervals in the penetrable body of the mat. The intersected wires of the netting present prominences which by their connection in the sheet are relatively immovable, and which, by their engagement with the mat effectually prevent the latter from stretching. This wire-nettingfmay advantageously rest directly upon or in contact with the press-plate, so as to form essentially an uneven surface of the latter, and the interposition of any body between the wire-cloth and plate (as a part of a mat orvof a double mat) will not change this essential character and operation of the netting as described, or be a departure from my invention. y

In Figs.5, 6, and 7the prominences which engage the mat are formed directly upon the surface of and are integral with the press-plate.

will not adhere.

At the left in Fig. 5 and in Fig. 6 such prominences are in the form of rounded studs a', and at the right in Fig. 5 and in Fig. 7 the prominences a. are pyramidal and formed by cutting intersecting V-grooves in the surface ofthe patterns from which the plates are cast. The prominences a being numerous, and, like those of the wire-netting, not far apart, are each subjected to only slight lateral strain under the tendency of the mat to stretch, and consequently together easily hold the mat from slipping at all points .and prevent its elongation or lateral expansion.

Two heavy mats between adjacent pressplates obviously occupy considerable of the space of the press. To increase the capacity of the press, cast-metal plates have heretofore been substituted for both mats, but at a sacriice, of course, of all the advantages of the absorbent qual'ities of the mats. It has also been a serious objection to these plates that the meal would be squeezed through the presscloth and would adhere to the plate, preventing the ready removal of the oil-cake and also injuring the cloth. I propose to enlarge the capacity of the press, and at the same time to retain the advantage of the mat, by dispensing with only one of the latter, and remedy the defect of adhesion by employing athin smoothsurfaced metal plate, D, preferably of Russia sheet-iron, to which it is found that the meal The immunity from sticking is in some degree further increased by interposing a thin sheet of asbestusor other thin body of non-conducting material between the plate D and the press-plate. The asbestus or other non-conductor serves still another purpose in preventing the temperature of the cake from being lowered by proximity to the press-plate, and thus preserves its outer sur face in better condition for the expression of the oil.

The desired selvage or thicker margin of the sheet-metal plate D may be produced by folding its edges under in as many folds as may be necessary, or by the introduction of one or more thicknesses of metal or other material beneath the margins Aof the` plate or within a marginal foldthereof. In Figs. 1, 2, and 6 the plate D has only a single fold; in Fig. 4t it has a double fold, and in Fig. 3 a folded piece of duck or other material is ineluded with the'edge of the asbestus sheet E, within the fold of the plate. In Figs. 1 and 2 the mat B is thickened or raised at its margin by an under fold of the wire-cloth C. The special provision of this selvage or greater marginal thickness of the mat or plate is required in all presses having plates A of uniform thickness.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown a construction of the press-plateV in which its greater thickness at the margins obviates the thickening of the edges of the mats B and plates D. The concavity of the press-plate here shown may be sufficient to wholly attain the object of yconfining the cake laterally, or additional concavity of the outer surface of the mat or plate D may be obtained, as indicated, bythe usual selvage or other thickening of the margins of these plates.

The mats and smooth plates, together with the underlying parts, if present, may be secured to the press-plates by the usual devices of twine or wire tics, (seen at F, Fig. 1,) or in the case of the plates D screws may be used, as suggested in- Figs. 3, 4, and 6.

Vhen a single mat B and plate D are used in opposition to each other in the space between two adjacent press-plates, either the mat or the plate D may be the upper or the lower; but I prefer to employ the mat below the meal-cake or upon the upper surface of the press-plate, and the metal plate D on the opposite side of the -meal-cake.

I am aware that it has been proposed to employ press-plates having corrugated surfaces and also projections on the surfaces of press-plates, to be used without absorbent -rnats and directly in contact with the mealbag. This is not my invention, which expressly proposes the use of the absorbent mat, and which, in fact, has for its express object the preservation of such mats from injury, in order that their advantages may be profitably utilized.

I am also aware that wire mats have been proposed containing an absorbent interior layer or body. This is also not my invention, which, on the other hand, seeks to preserve the well-known. advantages of using an ab- IIO sorbent mat in direct contact with the mealportant as affecting the es't or profit-of oil manufacture. The wire mat above referred to does not present the absorbent body next the meal-bag, and therefore, while durable, lacks the advantage of the usual mat. To attain the ends desired, the present invention therefore proposes to employ a reticulated wire fabric on the under side only of the mat or between the mat and the press-plate, and the claim relating to this construction is limited to the arrangement stated.

I am further aware that sheet-metal plates have been employed or proposed as a covering for both adjacent faces of a hinged twopart mat, the bodies of the hinged parts of which are built up of layers of paper. This is not my invention. My said invention, relating to this smooth-surfaced plate, is expressly limited to the combinations stated in claims 3 and 4. In the construction of claim 4 the advantages of the absorbent mat used in direct contact with the meal-bag are retained, and the capacity of the press,which is greatly taken up by such mats when two are used, is materially increased, while, by the provision of a smooth surface on the added met-al plate, the adhesion of the bag to the metal is prevented. v

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with a press-plate provided with projections upon its surface, of a vpenetrable absorbent mat resting on saidsurface and adapted to be penetrated by such projections, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. y

2. In combination with a penetrable and absorbent mat and a press plate, a sheet of wire netting interposed between the mat and the press-plate, the opposite surface of the absorbent mat being uncovered and exposed directly to the meal-bag in the use of the,

'the plates, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses. y

OLIVER R. NELSON. Vitnesses:

M. E. DAYTON, C. CLARENCE POOLE. 

